Special Projects

Dothan, Alabama draws nearly 100,000 people each November during the National Peanut Festival (NPF). The week-long celebration includes a fair and Saturday morning parade down Main street. Main Street also claims the address of the nation’s largest distributor of retail pornographic videos, Movie Gallery.

This year, mothers angered by Movie Gallery's open display of porn took their message to the streets, literally. Armed with 5,000 sealed envelopes containing boycott cards, brochures, and Movie Gallery officer’s names, they hand delivered them to parents lining the street during the annual parade on Saturday morning.

"We're here to send a message that some of our local citizens are deeply involved with the porno industry," said Jawana Stewart. "Movie Gallery decision makers live among us and we are going to let parents know who they are."

At the same time, an airplane flew overhead bearing a banner reading, www.StopMovieGalleryPorn.com. Later that day, some in the group visited neighborhoods, handing out boycott information to those who live next to Movie Gallery's porn kingpins.

The fairgrounds proved to be another point of distribution for the boycott message. Two booths on opposite sides of the exhibit area were launching points for handing the literature to fair goers. "We want to put this information into the hands of as many people as possible," said one of the mothers. "What's left over tonight (Saturday) will go to members of my Sunday School Class tomorrow." She said the area homeschooling organization is also planning to join the boycott campaign.

Stewart said she became active in the boycott after her son was exposed to pornographic video covers in a local Dothan Movie Gallery. Her pleas to remove the material out of children's reach went unanswered by Movie Gallery executives until she appeared as a guest on a local Christian radio station, drawing massive support from other concerned mothers.

"The store nearest my home placed the videos on a top shelf, but the other stores continue to display pornography at ground level," she added. "It was then I realized that simply moving them was not the answer. Movie Gallery deals in pornography and that hurts our community, regardless of where they display them."

But Dothan isn't the only town fighting Movie Gallery's display of porn videos. The American Family Association is working with citizens in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Virginia, and Kentucky to rid their communities of smutty videos in Movie Gallery stores.

AFA encourages you to join the boycott and take the following actions:

1. Please call Movie Gallery's toll free number: 1-800-472-2494. Let Movie Gallery know you do not do business with pornographers.

2. Inform your friends about Movie Gallery. Order copies of our brochure, "Somewhere in America...The truth about Movie Gallery and pornography."

Each order comes with pre-printed postcards addressed to Movie Gallery chairman Joe Malugen (requested donation - $2.00 per 100). Call 1-800-326-4543, ext. 214 or email fran@afa.net.

Additional contact information for Movie Gallery:

Mr. Joe Malugen, Chairman
Movie Gallery
900 Main St.
Dothan, AL 36301
Phone: (Toll Free) 1-800-472-2494, ext. 22432
Email: jmalugen@movgal.com

• Back to AFA.Net